kangaroo dog

plural kangaroo dogs

1. AustraliaA dog used to hunt kangaroos; (specifically), a breed of dog for this purpose, developed in Australia from the Scottish deerhound and the greyhound.First known use 19th c.

   He was as concerned as a rabbit when it is cornered by a kangaroo dog.

   1986, Bruce Pascoe, “The Slaughters of the Bulumwaal Butcher”, in Heiss & Minter, editor, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin, published 2008, page 103

   1 more example

   A good dog of this kind is valuable; but we meet with so many cross-bred mongrels, that half the dogs which are called kangaroo-hounds are hardly worth their keep; and I do think a lazy, half-starved, good-for-nothing kangaroo-dog is the biggest loafer one can see about a tent.

   1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist

   Synonyms: Australian greyhound